Armauer Hansen: The Controversy Surrounding his Unethical Human-to-Human Leprosy Transmission Experiment.

In 1873, Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen (1841-1912) [below]discovered rod-shaped bodies — Mycobacterium leprae — in leprous nodules. Initially unable to stain these bodies, he only tentatively suggested that they resembled bacteria, which led to a later priority dispute with Albert Neisser (1855-1916) when Neisser was able to stain the organisms and then claimed priority for the discovery. Although Hansen was convinced that leprosy was an infectious disorder, he was unable to cultivate the organism and unable to transmit the disease to animals, despite 12 failed attempts to transmit the disease to rabbits by inoculation.

The court determined that Hansen misused his position of authority.